AOS 640 course information

AOS 640
Radiation in the Atmosphere and Ocean
Spring 2009

CLASS INFORMATION AND POLICIES

Instructor: Prof. Grant W Petty
Office: AOSS 1329
Phone: 263-3265
e-mail: gpetty@aos.wisc.edu

Class e-mail list (reaches everyone in class): atmocn640-1-s09@lists.wisc.edu

COURSE OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this introductory course is exposure to the fundamental principles of atmospheric radiation and their applications at a level appropriate to a non-specialist. Breadth will therefore be emphasized over depth. Physical insight and meteorological context will be emphasized over advanced mathematical and computational methods. The additional depth required by future specialists in atmospheric radiation and remote sensing is offered by the follow-on course, AOS 740.

REQUIRED TEXT:

We will be using my textbook, A First Course in Atmospheric Radiation. I will sell copies to AOS 640 students at a sharply discounted price, so don't order through a bookstore or through Amazon.com.

SUPPLEMENTAL TEXTS:

Although my textbook is intended to be self-contained and complete with respect to this introductory course, some students might want to know what else is out there. Here are the other principle introductory textbooks on atmospheric radiation:

An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation (2nd Ed.). K.-N. Liou, 2002, Academic Press, ISBN 0124514510
Radiative Transfer in the Atmosphere and Ocean. Gary E. Thomas, 1991, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521890616 (paperback)
Atmospheric Radiation: Theoretical Basis (2nd Ed.). R. M. Goody, 1995, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195102916
Fundamentals of Atmospheric Radiation: An Introduction with 400 Problems. C.F. Bohren and E.E. Clothiaux, 2006, Wiley, ISBN 3527405038
Remote Sensing of the Lower Atmosphere: An Introduction. G.L. Stephens, 1994, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195081889

Each of the above books has its own unique strengths. If you are serious about radiation and/or remote sensing as a future specialty, you will probably want to have all of these on your bookshelf soon or later.

COURSE RESOURCES:

Various documents, data sets, and programs required for this course can be found on the course web page at http:/rain.aos.wisc.edu/~gpetty/aos640/

HOMEWORK AND GRADING:

There will be one midterm and one final exam, each worth 20% (the final will actually play the role of a second midterm; i.e., it will focus primarily on material covered during the second half of the semester).

There will also be two substantial class projects, each worth 25%. Many students will find the programming aspect of these projects to be a greater challenge than the conceptual part, especially if they have not previously done much programming. I encourage you to get an early start refreshing your knowledge of Fortran, C, IDL, MatLab, or some other suitable procedural language.

Your homework is to work through ALL the problems in the textbook, as you encounter them. These problems are mostly very straightforward and are designed mainly to reinforce your understanding of the material that immediately precedes them. In contrast to past years (and on the specific advice of past students!), this year I will collect your solutions at roughly two-week intervals rather than leaving them strictly for self-study. However, I will only spot check them rather than grading them thoroughly; you will use the solutions I provide for most problems to self-check your solutions in detail. On-time completion of the homework with good-faith attempts of most problems is worth the remaining 10% of the course grade. This new policy is designed mainly to motivate you to keep up with the reading.

OFFICE HOURS:

For a class of this size, I prefer not to hold scheduled office hours but rather to encourage appointments via e-mail. You may also just drop by my office and see if I'm available. I encourage you to see me any time you have trouble understanding the homework problems or need additional clarification of the material presented in class.